NOTES ON CUTTING 121 



trade. There is always a market for the right goods. It is 

 true that at times prices are low, but it is also true that a good 

 salesman can nearly always find an outlet for good stock. 

 Prices for the shorter grades are as good sometimes in August 

 as they are at Christmas, because of the fact that everybody is 

 growing immense quantities of all kinds of flowers for the 

 Christmas trade and the market is glutted if anything happens 

 to unbalance things, such as bad weather, hard times, etc., 

 while, on the other hand, there is always a shortage in August, 

 which is between seasons in a measure. The June glut is past. 

 Some growers, disgusted with their returns, have ceased ship- 

 ping and are drying off their stock, while the man with a few 

 good Roses can make a few dollars very easily. 



MARKETING 



The flowers should be laid out carefully and evenly, on 

 stout wax paper, which may be bought ready cut into con- 

 venient sizes (15 in. by 20 in. is a good size for ordinary 

 grades). For longer stems, a double sheet of newspaper may 

 be laid underneath the wax paper. A little chopped ice should 

 be sprinkled on the foliage of every bunch if the weather is 

 warm or they have to travel far. The finer the ice is chopped 

 up the better will be the results obtained. Keep the flowers dry 

 and cover with tissue paper. Lay on the papers and place in the 

 boxes in such a manner that the heads cannot get broken, and 

 always lay the white flowers on the top (or as much as possible) 

 as they are the most likely to get bruised and discolored. Line 

 the boxes carefully with clean paper and use boxes of a uniform 

 size and not over eight inches deep. 



By visiting the markets and making a few notes of the way 

 Roses are shipped in you will soon see how the packing should 

 be done, and you will find that the growers who ship in the 

 best manner invariably get the most satisfactory results. It pays 

 in the Spring months to double the number of shipments to 



